Chapter Fourteen, Family Day.

"If I let an outsider have a sample of vibranium, I'll be no less than a thief myself. If I let my daughter speak to someone who baited her through the internet, I'll be no less than a fool. If I let a white colonizer into my country, I'll become a traitor to my own kingdom. You do realize what you ask of me, don't you young man. You ask me to become a thief, a fool and a traitor to my own crown. You speak of protecting the world, spinning tales of foreseeing the future, the past, and the present as movies. You dare to ask of me to speak to my daughter, a girl less than ten years old whom you lured with your games. Why should I believe anything you say and not kill you on the spot? Approach my daughter again, and I will destroy you. Speak of what you told me here today and I'll have your head personally, cosmic powers or not."

"So I take it you don't agree?" I ask, as T'Chaka leaves the room. "Alright then. Your son might be more receptive in a few years. I can wait. Alfred, new task please, find Ulysses Klaue and set up a meeting if you can, I'd like to acquire a couple of bottles of his 1992 best, please."

"Yes, Sir. What about the game? Shall we still send a copy to the young Shuri?"

"Yeah, but avoid contact for now. I don't want a war yet."

"Of course, that would be bad planning if you did, Sir."

"Oh cut the sarcasm. I get it, I was too forward and I know it. Won't happen again. By the way, see to it if you can find a Benin artifact from the 7th century, Fula tribe, please." Well haste was not the best of plans, and I f*cked up big time. If I can't get my hand on vibranium the legit way, I'll have to get it the lawless one. Contacting Klaue is the first plan, and this is the second. The artifact that will find itself in a museum only to be stolen by Klaue and Killmonger in the future is the second plan. Waiting for T'Challa to be on the throne is the third one. It's a long one but I don't really have much else choice. "Check the whole game and publish it when I'm done testing it as well, the sooner we start it, the faster we'll find people."

"You still haven't given it a name, Sir."

"The Prodigies. And make the game company the Killian-Farrar Foundation. I don't want the players to be scared of the Baxter name and think the game will blow up in their faces. How long till the Flavium press conference?"

"The last deal has been signed by Mrs. Hogarth two days ago, and the conference has been called by Stark Industries in eight days. You received the invitation this morning while you were meeting King T'Chaka outside the building."

"Alright, then. I'll try on Prodigies for a while, keep me posted please."

"As always, Sir." With that I went to test out the game again.

The first time I tried it, it had taken 3 hours to finish the first 10 levels out of 50. A good thing about it is that should you decide to take it from the start after completing a number of tests, you can. As I launched the game back from zero, I felt something different from the last time. As this time I was prepared to complete it in one go, my perception— no. My brain physically seemed to adapt itself for puzzles and the categories of games I was playing. My synapses seemed to evolved based on the need, creating, separating or deleting synapses while I played. After three hours, I was done with the first 17 levels. Three hours later, I finished the 30th level. In total, it took me 10 and a half hours to complete the game instead of the 18 to 24 hours I had first estimated.

During that time, I didn't feel the need to train and when Sue tested my radiation, it seemed to have stayed at normal levels which means that using my powers to affect my brain has the same effect as two days' worth of training. Although, now I'm famished and tired at the same time. Stretching my brain for so long in one sitting is definitely not something I'll be able to do daily. Getting my brain 'back into its shape' was a harrowing experience to say the least as well.

After a good meal and a long night of rest I decided to check on the simulations of alloys we could make with the unstable molecules machines. We've received a lot of mail from scientists wanting to test their theories about unstable molecules, and while we mostly restricted the use to advanced universities and research centers— with all the 'prints' having to be approved beforehand by Alfred and me in some cases— some machines were 'technically' available for public use.

The latest bunch of mails concerning this included a notice by Dr. Cho from Seoul, working on living tissues and biomaterials and asking if there was a way to print skin using unstable molecules and if the skin printed had any peculiarities. I decided to approve of the test, provided I could have access to the lab results as early as she did. I also asked her to contact Sue for a partnership when the two of them would have some time for it. Knowing she helped design the cradle that allowed printing artificial skin on the flesh of people, having the two scientists working on something together might bring something nice.

Steadily we were all coming up a lot of inventions that could help both us and the world at large. From the latest notes that I received, the Tesla company was putting the final finishing touches on their industrial complex, and soon will be able to manufacture the Saltation. They also included the new process to improve the car's power output, input and overall efficiency. The estimated increase in range for the car is about 110%, which means that from the original 550, the range would now be around 1155 km on the ground. The RDDevice was on sale and most government had already passed a bunch of orders. A number of fashion companies had started making their markets on the app coming with the suits. Another dozen or so had their own designs getting printed and the app was also compatible with those, but having a G*cci dress as a standard and being able to put some of their other designs in was a very lucrative opportunity for them. While it's not announced yet we're already receiving money from the sale of Alfium, and that's just the first alloy we came up with. The Baxter Foundation, or at least their sales partner Yggdrasill was finally bankable.

The training was getting more and more specific, and while Steve could give us the basis, he started advising us to look for teachers in specific martial arts instead of a jack of all trades like him. Although he was accomplished in the ones he taught us, we were soon coming to the point where his knowledge in the martial arts won't be enough. He could still kick our a*ses when we didn't use our powers and he restricted himself, but even when we used our powers he would still manage to come out on top in half of our battles. We managed a couple of upsets, though. We were getting used to fight in a group now. The suits were a very welcome addition to our style though.

There were six days left till the Stark conference. After resting and working for a while, I asked Sue on a date, a walk in Central Park. I was figuring that we were getting too cooped up in the building. Ben and Johnny occasionally went out by themselves, but we didn't. We had a few movie nights and slept in the same bed, but we needed some time as a couple and I thought that since there wasn't anything of extreme importance at the moment, why not spend some time outside. She agreed and off we went.

Walking the streets, we noticed how more than a quarter of the people were wearing our suit with Yggdrasil designs. I didn't pay enough attention to the app to know for sure how many creator designs there was, and how many people here were using them, but I'm sure it could potentially be more than half the people we saw. It brought a bigger smile on our faces as we walked hand in hand in the park. We sat on a bench for a while, to appreciate nature and talk about nothing.

"Hey, you're the young inventor dude who made a flying car and transforming clothes!" a young voice shouted.

"Dear, don't shout and leave them alone. They're on a date."

"What's a date?" the young boy asked himself.

"Don't worry, miss. It's fine. Hi there, cutie, I'm Sue. What's your name?"

"I'm Peter! I'm an inventor too! Are you an inventor? I know he's one because he invented stuff. He was on TV. I'm an inventor because I invented things too, but I can't build them. One day I will build them, it's just that I can't right now. Why didn't you answer me? You're not an inventor?" he said, rapid-firing his questions.

"Yes I am, I'm an inventor. I'm working on a machine that can tell you if you're sick. That's cool, right, Peter?" Sue answered. "What are you working on?"

"It's confidentiale."

"Confidential, Peter." The lady corrected him.

"No, confidentiale, it's Spanish for confidential. Anyway. It's a secret."

"Hey, Peter, do you like video games?"

"Yeah! I love them! But I can't play long because it's not good for your eyes and they're expensive." he says, pointing to his glasses and wallet alternatively.

"Well, If your mom agrees, I'll send you a good one, with puzzles and stuff for free. It's not supposed to come out before a couple of days, but you'll get an early copy that's made only for inventors like us." I say, looking at his guardian, and seeing her nod.

"She's not my mom, silly! That's my aunt! My mom left a while ago but she'll come back soon." His aunt nudges him on the shoulder. "Oh, yeah. Thanks for the game, and sorry to have bothered you. It was nice meeting you, but we have to go now. Is that it?" He whispers his aunt.

"Very good," she whispers back. "Thank you both for your time and sorry for the inconvenience. Say goodbye, dear." She says, leaving me a post-it with his mail address.

"Goodbye, dear!" he says, before running off. She sighs and runs after him. As we look at the two, Sue turns to me.

"This was nice. He seems like a smart boy."

"That's why I decided to send him a copy of the game early, I wanted to make sure he'll get to try the game. There's no certainty, but at least there's a good chance he does. He reminded me of someone from my visions, but he's a bit young."

"Reed, we're not that much older than him. At worst we're twice his age. You're the one who always says that age doesn't matter when you're smart. Anyway, I'm glad we went out. It was relaxing. Thank you for that. I hope we'll do this more often." She says, kissing me on the cheek.

As we get back to the building, she says she wants to see her father. Since we got back, we sent him to a safe place where enemies shouldn't get to. We often talk by mail and phone, but it's not the same. She calls Johnny so that they can get some family time. Ben's father is in prison for recidivism of grand theft auto, his mother died when he was younger. I never really fit in with my family, and it got worse when they tried to get some money from me when they saw me on TV. When they came for me, I declared there and then that my family was the Baxter foundation and that I'd never get back to a house where I was bullied and put aside because of my brain. Franklin was the only real family member all of us in the Baxter building had left. Ben decided to talk to his father, so he left as well. Since Steve only came by two to three times a week, he wasn't here, and NAtasha had a mission for the last couple of days.

I was now alone in the building with Alfred and a copy of Jarvis. I decided to take some time to visit a few orphanages in and around New York, to see what they needed. A couple of them refused money donations, instead asking if possible to give some things to help the children directly such as warm clothes, blankets, medicine etc. I made a list of it all, to get everything delivered later in the day. During one of my visit, at Saint Agnes orphanage, I met with a man my age, blind, who was playing with the kids. Talking with Sister Margaret Grace, I learned that he was called Matt and was studying law, but still spent most of his afternoon with the children at the orphanage he grew up in. I smiled at that, and left the orphanage after writing what they needed.

Back at the office, I tasked Alfred with buying and sending all that was requested by each of the orphanages. I sent blankets to all the orphanages, even those that didn't ask for it. We were in November and the nights were getting cold so it was the least I could do. I also sent a few computers with the game installed on it to those who didn't have any, while I sent copies of the game to others.

"Sir, if I may?" Asked Jarvis.

"Go ahead."

"Why orphanages? Was it to share your game to children more susceptible to work with you?"

"What? No, the game was an afterthought. It's just that today made e think about family a lot, and I wanted to help those who didn't have any. If I can help those in need, why shouldn't I? Why did Stark build and sent an extremely efficient and filtrating water pump in those poor countries with difficult access to water when he was young? Why did he set the firemen up with a ball every year getting hundred of thousands in donations? Because he helps those in need. He may be known as a merchant of death by some, but the money from the sale of weapons is then spent in research on how to help others. He is one example that I thought would hit home with you. Now, why do you think I helped those orphanages, Jarvis?"

"It would seem that you helped because you could, Sir. I'm sorry I misconstrued your intentions."

"It's okay, it happens. Anyway, the team should be coming back soon. I'm going to work for a while, tell me if anything happens Alfred."

"As always, Sir. If I may, there is something I think should have your attention."

"What is it?" I ask.

"While looking through the Baxter Foundation's deleted files, I discovered that an entire branch project was stored in 7 containers just before the people responsible for this project died in the incident that brought Mr. Van Doom from Dimension Zero. The containers listed in that file were reported stolen near an island in the Atlantic just a couple of days ago, from a cargo ship that was transporting them to Europe as per the now supposedly dead scientists' orders."

"Are you saying they faked their deaths to keep their project secret? What were they working on?"

"The files I recovered were mentioning humanoids, Sir. The specifics were deleted more thoroughly." I sigh.

"Call the team, and send word to Fury. Prepare the Fantasti-car, we'll be going on a small trip. Send all the files you have on the scientists, the project, and the cargo ship route please. We need to make sure that this small pocket doesn't become something more..."

"So, what's gotten into you? Some of us were busy, you know?" Johnny asks, in the lounge.

"Well, we need to check something out. I'm sorry I disturbed your day. It appears that the phrase 'we create our own demons' might be too true. Alfred has informed me that the four scientists who died when Viktor came back might have in fact faked their deaths to keep working on their own stuff."

"Were they working on something dangerous?"

"I don't know yet. It might be or it might not, we're going to make sure." Sue takes me by the arm and asks me a question quietly.

"Why don't you know? Was it not in your visions?"

"No, nothing about the Baxter foundation or us in general was in them. I'm clueless as well." I answer, shrugging.

"Shouldn't we let Fury and SHIELD take care of it?" Sue asks out loud. "We're scientists, they're spies, that's more their domain isn't it?"

"It is, but it's our responsibility to stay on top of things like these. Plus, we need some action, or the training we've been doing so far won't serve us much."

"Well now you're talking as if you know that there will be fighting involved. I'm in!" Johnny exclaims.

"He needs to be put in check or he'll burn of excitement, I'm coming as well." Ben follows.

"Fine, whatever. Don't let me tell you I told you so later on then. Alfred, show us everything." Sue asks.